Archive of ‘Other pieces.’ category

Eyes watering, I sit down on the scarlet cushion to retrieve my breath. Why is everyone always fighting? Why can’t we all just be happy? I shakily pick up my violin and play. After a few minutes I put it back down. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t concentrate. Why is everything so hard? Everyone is always annoyed with each other. It’s horrible. I try to block out the shouting by listening to music. I love music. It’s the one thing that’s always the same. People change. People who used to be your friend can turn on you. Music doesn’t. No matter how old it is, music stays the same. Your taste might change, but the music doesn’t. I think that’s why I love it so much.

Shivering, I stepped onto the pavement outside my house. Mist blinded me, as I walked through the town. Every house was covered in ice, and inside each house people were laughing and singing. The sound of carols drifted through the streets. I sat down on a bench in the park in front of the fire. The flames crackled, warming my whole body. I turned away, but then the flash made me see someone. Someone familiar. I knew her…but I shouldn’t. She shouldn’t be here. It isn’t possible for her too be here. But…I saw her with my own eyes. Last time I saw her, I thought it would be the last. I knew it would be. She didn’t, but I did.

Prompt: …when all of a sudden…
Goal: My goal for this week was to write in a different genre, and to include my own feelings and experiences into the story.

I look out at everyone. My stomach churns. I feel weak at my knees. I feel like running away, but I know I can’t. I gulp and look down at my hands. I look up again waiting for my signal, when all of a sudden I see something else. In the back of the room is Jade, smiling at me, giving me a thumbs up. I take a deep breath in and start to talk.

Goal: My goal for this 100 word challenge is to write in third person since I normally write with first person I would also like to include dialog since I don’t normally include it.
Prompt:

Sarah gazed in wonder at the horses galloping across the green grass, their manes flying behind them in the wind. She turned to her mother in awe.
“Mummy?” she looked up at her mother.
“Yes Sarah?” her mother looked down at her exasperated.
“Look at the horses mummy!” exclaimed Sarah, pointing her finger excitedly.
“Do you want to have a go?” Her mother asked.
“No! Mummy look! They’ve escaped!” Sarah cried.
Her mother let out a soft laugh, “You have such a huge imagination.”
And before Sarah could say another word her mother whisked her away to the ferris wheel.

I look at the rat scrambling between the barrels. I never thought I would say it, but right now, I really envy that rat. At least for it, it could escape. It’s fate wasn’t decided on by someone else. I look overboard at waves crashing against the side of the ship and my face turns a shade of lime green. I gulp. I walk back below the deck to my ‘room’. At least they were giving me some freedom. Some. I look at my surroundings. All stolen. Grandfather clocks, Globes, Chests. Suddenly something catches my eye. I walk over to it excitedly before a man with yellow teeth and greasy hair approaches me.
‘Come on.’ He snarls and yanks on my arm. I feel weak in the knees as I go onto the deck. I take one last look at the world around me and close my eyes.

Summer was always my least favourite time of the year. In Autumn, the leaves on the trees look beautiful. In Spring, all the baby animals are born, and everything is green. In winter, you have hot chocolate, and it snows, which is really nice for the first few days. In Summer though, you are always hot. Everything is really humid and it rains heaps. But summer this year was different. It started off completely normally, but then the weather changed dramatically. It was windy and dry. There was no rain. Not a single drop. The Town Council told us we had to ‘conserve water’. This summer was the worst summer so far.

I stared down at my thigh. The skin was turning purple from yesterday. I felt a tear roll down my cheek as I remembered everything that happened. I looked away. The memories stung, as if they were poison to my mind. I guess in way, they were. The water just kept gushing out of my eyes. I could taste blood in my mouth, like it was only a few minutes ago. I rocked back and forth, softly sobbing to myself. Eventually, I took a sharp breath in, and stood up. If I was ever going to get over it, this wasn’t how. I walked over to the grey door, took a deep breath in and opened it.

The Weedy Sea Dragon.Weedy Sea Dragons are native Australian Sea Dragons that live in the South and East Coast. They often just drift around in the ocean, blending in with the kelp. Unfortunately, the Weedy Sea Dragon is currently classified as ‘Near Threatened’ but they might be becoming extinct. To work out how many are left, marine biologists are asking ‘Citizen Scientist Divers’ to take photos of each dragon they spot and send the photos in. The researchers then use a facial recognition software to identify each dragon’s unique patterns. Each time they identify a new dragon they give it a name to help keep track of it. I wonder how long it will take them to find each Sea Dragon. Scientists think that a big part of the problem is climate change. They say that rising sea temperatures are killing the kelp, which is where the dragons live, leaving them homeless. I wonder what people are doing to stop climate change. I understand that climate change is a big problem and affects animals such as the Weedy Sea Dragon, and leaves them endangered or extinct.

Prompt: …in the lightning I saw…
The wind whistled in the dark night as my footsteps echoed on the blue stone pavement. The rain was pouring down, drenching the dirty, polluted landscape. I wiped my soaking hair out of my face and stepped forward, looking for a shelter from the storm. In the flash of lighting I saw a shadow race across the streets. I chased after it, determined to catch it and unveil it. The sound of cars honking and people shouting filled my ears. I sprinted onto the road. I heard a car’s tyres screech. My world turned black…

Tasmanian Devils died out in Mainland Australia around 400 years ago, but they still are around in the wild in Tasmania. Early European settlers hunted them, because they would eat their chickens, but now they are protected by the law. But since the mid-nineties they have had other problems. There is a disease called the Devil Facial Tumour Disease, and it is a contagious type of cancer, that effects the Tasmanian Devil. Scientists haven’t worked out what causes it yet, but it spreads when they bite and scratch each other. The tumours prevent them from eating by building up around their mouth, and they eventually starve to death. One of the solutions is breeding more Tasmanian Devil babies, so they don’t all die out. I wonder if they will be able to find a way to stop the tumor from spreading. I understand why the Tasmanian Devils are dying out and how zookeepers are trying to protect them.I wonder how long the program has been going on for.